Expert: Explosion Likely Caused EgyptAir Crash

Egyptian officials rejected the report.

An Egyptian forensics expert, who examined the human remains from EgyptAir Flight 804, said on Tuesday the evidence suggests that an explosion caused the plane to crash, the New York Daily News reports.

So far, investigators recovered 80 fragments of body parts—none larger than a hand, according to the Daily News.

The expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press, said via the New York Daily News it appears “the logical explanation is that it was an explosion” that took down the Airbus A320 last Thursday.

Shortly after that statement appeared in the media, Egyptian forensic officials rejected the conclusion in a Facebook post, NBC News reports.

The report that an explosion caused the crash is “baseless, and it is speculation that has not come from the Forensic Medical Department or any forensic doctor among its employees,” according to Egypt’s Forensic Medical Department.